Welcome back

Well, how `bout that. Its been a while since I`ve been here. A lot has happened since my last entry, but rather than bore you with everything that`s happened all at once, I will try to break it up a little.

Lets start with the rest of my training. I had a very busy year and did a lot of work on my courses to get myself as well educated as I could. Over all it was a great year. I learned more than I will ever be able to relate to you here, and I finished the year at the top of my class. I also got some great experience working with both Glacier Industries in Parksville, and a week at the Harmac Pulp mill in Cedar. I will try to elaborate on that in a later entry.

After graduation I spent a couple of months working odd jobs and trying to line up an apprenticeship with a local company so that I could put all that great expanse of knowledge that had filled my head to good use. Unfortunately, the job market in Parksville Qualicum was a little too lean and I really needed to get to work so I broadened my search parameters to out of town and out of province.

The first morning I sent resumes to out of province possibilities, I got a call from a firm in Calgary. Yes, Calgary, Alberta. The company name is A K Brown and they had previously hired graduates from the same program as me, and were very pleased with the training that we had received at VIU. I spoke with Keith, the owner of the firm, for about a half hour and was very pleased with what he had to say. He seemed to like what I had to say as well because he offered me a job over the phone. After some conversations at home and calling him back the next day to get some more details about the position, I decided to go for it.

I packed my stuff up on Saturday and caught the 6:20 am ferry to Vancouver Sunday morning. After a long day of driving I made it to Calgary at 10:30pm. I have a place to stay for now with Jenny`s ex-brother-in-law and her nephew, who were gracious enough to put me up while I get settled into the new job.

So far the job has been worth the trip and I am committed to working here for at least a year. After that I will have to have another look it see how things are going, but I am very excited to be working with this company. Their main focus is on training so I know I will learn a lot working with them and I will gain valuable experience that I would have had a hard time matching on the island.

Anyway, there are lots of things to talk about, but I am going to call this the end of this entry and elaborate on things over the next couple of weeks. So keep watching and I will work to keep it interesting.

One last thing, I have to mention how much love and support I have been receiving from everyone I left behind. I would not have been able to make a trip like this without all of you, and I promise to do everything I can to justify your support.

Thank you.

Talk to you soon,

Rob

P.S. My new phone number is (587) 436-2190. Please feel free to call or text any evening or weekend. I would love to talk to you.